Similarity
by Rogercat
Summary: Maedhros learns that her first and second son is more alike than at first look


Expecting Rûsa to be able to eat the food in Valinor at once, was cruel. Everyone who was a reborn Elf, knew that despite the very real temptations of a rich meal filled with all the old favorite foods, it was best to avoid such foods because their stomachs would not be able to stand it.

"Sorry for that your meals have not been that great, but we need to see which foods that does not make you sick," Maedhros said while offering a new spoonful of the soup she had done earlier.

Her son looked at her with those black eyes, revealing nothing of the innocence and happiness people would expect to see in the eyes of a small toddler. Instead they were far too old, revealing the mind of a adult. Sure, it had been a wise idea to hide his former identity by giving him a new chance of childhood, but Maedhros was still not fully sure if it had been fully planned.

"Still far better than what I was served in Angband," Rûsa responded, calmly accepting his mother feeding him instead of using the spoon himself, which was not so strange because he had been unlucky to get a wicker basket on his dominant hand earlier, the basket filled with some heavy ornaments which his grandparents had been in agreement to sell. His fingers had not been broken, but slightly swollen even now under the bandage.

At least that old accent of his, the one which betrayed the languages of the slaves, were fading the more he learned the Quenya spoken by his maternal family. He still had a very small vocabulary, and horrible lack of understanding when it came to grammar, but it was getting better, if slowly.

And thank the Valar that her father, who had been a such genius when it came to languages, had actually managed to calm down his former, well-known frustration when it came to people he viewed as foolish and wasting his time. While the spent in the Halls had not really been the thing to make Fëanor more humble, he had learned a harsh lesson in how his actions and lack of thinking ahead had cost his children pretty much everything they once had in Valinor.

"I am not even sure if Atar have been restored to his old status as Crown prince of the Noldor. Our House and family name would be too strained by the past…"

Rûsa said nothing about his mother suddenly stopping the spoon half-way to his face, he could see that she must be in deep thought for some reason. Besides, it was not like that the soup would become cool fast, as far as he had learned over the past months since he had been reborn in this new body.

"Are you that good at handling me, because you have trained on my uncles when you were young?"

Maedhros smiled at the memories the question brought up.

"Some of our cousins as well. Celebrimbor is surprising good at dealing with you, despite that he was the only child of your generation until that you were born, and he already was a young adult at the time."

Her son looked a little confused, but then returned to eating instead of thinking. He was not stupid, simply suffering from a horrible lack of education if one did not count the strict discipline the slaves had to deal with unless they wanted to be punished, and that he was showing signs of some skills in math. At least that discipline had prevented anything really bad from happening so far, but it was a little worrying that he seemed to expect to be given orders on what to do instead of simply not having to do any chores.

"Come, I will show you the herb garden out in the backyard, I think you will be surprised by how much simple herbs can improve the favor of a meal."

Although he said nothing, she could see in his eyes that Rûsa seemed curious on what she would show him.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Many years later, maedhros could not help but think of those first weeks after that Rûsa had been reborn, but for a slightly different reason. In fact, it all started when she passed past the kitchen and saw that her oldest son was kept busy at the dinner table.

"I guess that you are a little unsure about more solid food...or are you just enjoying trying to make me need to make another dish for you, Yuë?"

The albino infant had turned his little head away from the offered spoon with mashed potato at spotting his mother, refusing to let his older brother feed him as originally planned. Despite that, Rûsa did not try and force the spoon into the little mouth.

"Ignoring that he got distracted from me coming, he is pretty different from Cúwen, don't you think so?"

Her daughter, fifteen years older than her current youngest, had been pretty fussy in the state when she was starting with more solid food because it was so unfamiliar from nursing milk from Maedhros, often ending up with more food on the table and floor than in her mouth. Thankfully, Yuë proved to have a similar appetite to his older brother, often eating a lot for someone who was so small.

"Trying to make up for being born so premature, I think…I am not supposed to get the food on me, little brother, it is meant for your mouth."

Yuë had tried to grab the spoon from Rûsa, making her eldest somehow getting the spoonful on his face instead. While polite enough to not laugh, Maedhros was reminded of that time when Fëanor had tried to feed Rûsa gruel, only to end up with said food in his face when his grandson had recognized the taste and responded by both spitting it out and forcefully pushing away the bowl at the same time.

"Come on, Yuë, your food will get cool if you are not eating now," Rûsa smiled, and his little brother took a mouthful this time when the food was offered again. Seeing that Rûsa already had prepared some finely cut and mashed pieces of a pear to Yuë as a small dessert, Maedhros knew that her sons would not need her unless Rûsa called for her here in the kitchen.


End file.
